Slip and fall at grocery store

What is the name of your state?Texas
In November 2003 I fell inside the entryway of an HEB store. I was entering the store and the floor was wet, the rug was not within my walking way because a lady and her daughter were completely on it and they would not move so I could walk all the way on it was well. My foot hit some water and I slipped and fell hitting my knee and twisting my ankle. I immediately reported it to a front end manager and he took my information because he said it had to be entered into the computer. I was pretty sore but did not feel it was sufficient to go to the ER. He asked if I wanted an ambulance and I said no. Well a few weeks later my knee and foot started hurting pretty bad as did my back. I went to the ER and they said it was a sprain. I called to see if I could talk to a manager and told them the situation and they gave me the name and number to the Loss Prevention Manager. I called her and she basically said that they are self insured and would not pay anymore than $1000. I contacted several attorneys, one whom was previously an attorney for HEB and he said that they would not pay past $1000., another one said I more than likely would not win anything from a slip and fall case because less than 5% in Texas win. I pretty much gave it up and dealt with the pain. Well in the meantime I could not pay for the ER visit and I tried to contact the LPM several times and she would not call back and I even sent a certified letter and she never called me. This is now on my credit report. I wanted something done so I got on PlanetFeedback and sent a letter to HEB. She called me the other day wanting my contact info. I get a letter in the mail today stating they will pay me $500.00 but they want me to sign a paper stating that the $500.00 is full and final offer to help defray the cost and any other expenses I have acquired. She wants all medical bills and the name of the manager I first reported it to.

I don't want to take this offer because 1)I am still not healed 2)I am not sure what future medical I might incurr. I need to seek additional medical treatment for this injury. I have had some numbness and pain in my leg and tons of problems with my knee and back.

appledumplin
You should accept the offer if the $500 pays your medical bills from the ER visit. The store was not negligent (from your description of events). You chose to go around the woman instead of waiting your turn.

In no way do I or will anyone else believe you went without needed medical care until settlement time and now that settlement is being discussed, you anticipate further medical needs.

If the store had actually been negligent and if you had been significantly injured, you would have already met with an attorney.

Let me clarify a few things

Let me just clarify some things for you. I did seek additional medical treatment and that doctor wanted me to have a $3500 dollar MRI which I could not afford out of pocket. I don't know about you but I do not have a money tree in my back yard. I did not have insurance and when the attorneys I talked to stated that I would not have a chance of getting anymore medical than $1000 probably I saw no reason to persist with this since I would not be able to afford all the bills without any help at all. The reason I got back into contact with the Loss Prevention Manager now is that the bill from the ER has gone on my credit report and I want to get it paid so it will be taken off. I was not trying to get a settlement that was outrageous out of them so unless you know the full circumstances, I would appreciate you not making any comments about me wanting money out of it.

It is funny how people are willing to spit out comments to people who come here for help without knowing the full array of the situation. Now that I have clarified it a bit more I hope I don't get those sort of comments.

People need to be more considerate of people coming here for help. There are a lot of peopel who come here for help and don't really know how to explain a situation and they get accussed of trying to benefit greatly from an unfortunate incident. People just need to sit back and get the facts. If you can't help someone with their situation without making comments, don't say anything at all and let someone more compassionate answer the question

_______________________________________________________________
Here is what you said:

"In no way do I or will anyone else believe you went without needed medical care until settlement time and now that settlement is being discussed, you anticipate further medical needs." (Your quote)

appledump
What's typical is people who come here looking for the answer they want, not the legal answer, and when they get an answer that is NOT what they want to hear, they feel free to criticize, belittle, insult, and advise those who volunteer their time and knowledge to help complete strangers with issues affecting their lives. You are no exception.

You also have no legal basis for additional recovery above and beyond what you have been advised is possible.

You are responsible for the debt's being on your credit report. No one made you NOT pay the bill or wait 14 months to become aggressive in your attempts, or thoughts of attempting, to gain a settlement from the store.

You are responsible for not walking on the safety mat placed for customers to use and the resulting fall is 100% because of your negligence. According to Texas law, you are entitled to $0.00.

The term "contributory negligence" is used to describe the actions of an injured person that may have also caused that person's own injuries. For example, a person who ignores a "Caution - Wet Floor" sign and slips and falls in the supermarket may be found to have been careless and at fault for any injuries suffered. "Contributory negligence" can prevent a person from collecting any monies to compensate for injuries suffered, even if that person's carelessness was minor.

Some states have done away with the concept of contributory negligence altogether and instead use the concept of "comparative negligence The term "comparative negligence: means that the fault of all parties is compared and the amount of the recovery for damages sustained by the injured victim is reduced by the percentage of his or her own fault. In this way, each person is held accountable for the amount of damages that they caused".

If you're injured by the negligent action of another, but you contributed to the accident by your failure to exercise reasonably prudent care, you're guilty of contributory negligence. You may also be guilty of a form of contributory negligence if you voluntarily expose yourself to danger - by riding a roller coaster without wearing a seat belt, or working with a neighbor's power saw or other dangerous tool if you're inexperienced or fail to use a safety guard. This is called assumption of risk. [url]http://www.crow-little.com/faqs.jsp[/url]

So, take your insults and your crass remarks, and well, you know what to do...
EC

I came here looking for advice, if you can't give it to me then go to the next question and criticize the next person coming on this board for answers. I needed to know what I needed to do about this. I got some of your opinions and I thank you. I wanted to see what all my options were. Secondly, once again let me state this because I guess plain english is not recognizable. I did not have the money to pay the bill, I tried over the 14 months to contact the lady about the bill and she would not respond. I recently found planetfeedback and sent a message through them to HEB and they contacted me finally. This was the last thing on my mind until now, I have had a lot of personal things going on in my life and did not have time to do anything about this and did not know it was on my credit report until recently. Now I dont' see that it is any of your business what personal circumstances kept me from doing anything about this until now so if you can't provide me with anymore useful information please don't respond.

I came here looking for advice, if you can't give it to me then go to the next question and criticize the next person coming on this board for answers. I needed to know what I needed to do about this.

and you were TOLD what your option is.

I got some of your opinions and I thank you. I wanted to see what all my options were. Secondly, once again let me state this because I guess plain english is not recognizable. I did not have the money to pay the bill, I tried over the 14 months to contact the lady about the bill and she would not respond.

it is NO ONE'S fault but YOUR own that you didn't pay the bill.. whether you had the money or not ... you could have done a payment plan or something.. YOUR only 'option' was to mitigate the damages.. not let the bill go to collections where there will now be interest, fees etc.

I recently found planetfeedback and sent a message through them to HEB and they contacted me finally. This was the last thing on my mind until now, I have had a lot of personal things going on in my life and did not have time to do anything about this and did not know it was on my credit report until recently. Now I dont' see that it is any of your business what personal circumstances kept me from doing anything about this until now so if you can't provide me with anymore useful information please don't respond.

ok and how is ANY of this .. the company's responsibility ?

Thank you for your input

no problem

**MY unsolicited advice to YOU - find somewhere else to slip/fall.. make sure not to hit your leg OR your head since those are already 'damaged' - and sue them - that way you can pay this bill.

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